マイノリティこそ、外国語学習を: Why Minorities Should Acquire a Foreign Language

English has always been a loophole for me; it has always been a means of personal-development.

The term 'personal development' itself seems more accepted in the English-speaking world; the equivalent Japanese "自己啓発: Jiko-keihatsu" sounds too limited for those who are extraordinary motivated for social upward mobility or so; the Japanese word doesn't sound personal, nor grounded; although personal-development should rather ground ourselves to what we really are.

It was Donna Williams, who was an author and an artist and autistic, who pointed out the thought-liberating aspect of a foreign language in her book "somebody somewhere." Acquiring a second language allows us to think out of the norm of the culture that our mother tongue is spoken in. Very true, Donna. 

English somewhat has liberated my act through acquiring it; as I lean to speak it, I leaned to think and behave as the language claimed me to. The girl who would never dare to express herself and expect others to accept how she really was, gained courage to do so by stepping into and touching cultures that were entirely different from her own. She would have never learnt to dance to her tunes, without the new language and the socio-cultural schemes that came along with it. 

With all said, I would like to make one point: minorities SHOULD learn a foreign language. To flee from the restriction of the mother culture. To free the true self from the born-constraints. To hold the capacity to live in another place, to make the option available; although free-d-up-mind would give you enough strength to live in the original context as a minority, thus put you to try to cultivate your own land for persons like you to live as they are. 

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To a Japanese who's living in Japan for now: Japan is a highly-context-based thus easily-catching-you-to-be-who-you-not-really-are type of society. Whenever I come homeward-bound from abroad, the moment I hoot on the motherland, I feel the density of the air. It's very heavy. There's a gravity, which, maybe, affect only those who are born here (or who are deeply rooted). Don't know what it is, but I feel it.

ALAS. There gotta be a reason why we chose to be born here. There should be something to break free and be better as a community. So let's be it, shall we? 

-Inspired by the talk of George Lizos and Madeline Moon on her podcast "Mind Body Musings Podcast" Episode 312: WHY LIGHTWORKERS NEED A LIFE PURPOSE DECLARATION WITH GEORGE LIZOS.

Why Lightworkers Need a Life Purpose Declaration with George Lizos

-header photo credit- song "SENORITA" from the movie "ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA"